The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden, set out the rules to restrict high-risk vendors in the UK. The new work plan comes ahead of the telecommunications (security) bill’s proposal to Parliament.
Mr Dowden is expected to reveal the “end of installation” date today with Government source telling day Telegraph it will outline a roadmap to eliminate Huawei from UK networks.
The source said: “This new ‘end of installation’ date shows we are serious and sets out an irreversible pathway to Huawei’s removal from Britain’s 5G networks.
“Now the companies need to get on with it.”
He also released a 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy that explains how the Government will ensure the UK is “never again dependent on a handful of telecoms vendors”.
Mr Dowden said: “Today I am setting out a clear path for the complete removal of high-risk vendors from our 5G networks.
“This will be done through new and unprecedented powers to identify and ban telecoms equipment which poses a threat to our national security.
“We are also publishing a new strategy to make sure we are never again dependent on a handful of telecoms vendors for the smooth and secure running of our networks.
“Our plans will spark a wave of innovation in the design of our future mobile networks.”
He said: China is going about things very cleverly, very quietly, but all the same with an astonishingly consistent strategy, and it is a concern that we in Europe hardly notice this dominant behaviour.
“Our stance towards China has been dominated by business relations. We need to reconsider that.
“We are partly dependent on China, for example with our car industry. But you can’t ease this dependence by becoming more dependent; we should strive to be less dependent.”
He highlighted Huawei as an example to China’s influence on the international community.
